Playlist Curation in 2023: The Latest Trends and Strategies in Music Discovery
Table Of Contents:
The enduring power of playlists in 2023
Catering to specific subcultures and sonic preferences
Niche micro-genres and specific curation
Tokenizing playlists with NFTs
Revenue generation and new avenues for playlist curators
Spotify's pilot with NFTs for playlists
Tailoring playlists to niche communities and influencers
Providing exposure to emerging artists and fostering a sense of belonging
Integrating playlists with TikTok
Creating complementary content to engage and grow your followers
The evolving landscape of independent playlist curators and music discovery in 2023.
Introduction:
It’s 2023, and alongside so many things that are happening, from Generative AI tools, socials that keep evolving, and much more, playlists still remain a powerful tool for music discovery and curation.
In the landscape of music playlists, independent curated playlists are responsible for over a quarter of the listening time spent by people to playlists. If you are an enthused music lover who loves exploring and sharing music, we got you covered - with the latest trends shaping the world of independent music tastemakers and curators, that will help you position yourself and grow your audience.
The Rise of Micro-Genres in Playlists:
One significant trend witnessed in recent times is the rise of micro-genres within playlists. As music tastes become more niche and personalized, playlists are evolving to cater to specific subcultures and sonic preferences. Users in general (and Gen-Zers in particular), are becoming more specific when it comes to their musical preferences, and therefore showing more interest in playlists that are less “generic”.
How to drive more attention to your playlists?
Focus more on niche micro-genres such as lo-fi hip-hop, Amapiano, Drift-phonk, or even hyperpop.
Be as specific as you can get - If the music can relate to a genre, mood, and interest (for example, “classical dreamy music that will make you feel in a michel gondry movie”) - it will most likely attract just the people who are looking for it!
These curated collections provide listeners with a deep dive into specific sonic landscapes, allowing them to discover hidden gems within their favorite genres.
NFTs in Playlists:
The advent of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has made waves in the music industry, and independent playlist curators are also embracing this new technology. NFTs allow curators to tokenize their playlists, offering unique ownership and value to collectors. With NFTs, playlist curators can sell limited editions of their playlists, granting exclusive access to the content and potentially allowing for revenue generation beyond traditional streaming royalties. This emerging trend blurs the lines between music curation and art, opening up new avenues for independent playlist curators to monetize their craft.
We recommend keeping an eye on Spotify’s pilot with NFTs for playlists, in which Spotify enables users to connect their playlists to wallets, and provide the ones who join to enjoy access to the exclusive content on their playlists. The pilot is now available only in the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, and New Zealand.
Playlists for Communities and Influencers:
Playlists have become an integral part of community-building and influencer marketing strategies. Independent playlist curators are tapping into this trend by creating playlists specifically tailored to niche communities or influencers.
These playlists not only reflect the interests and preferences of a particular group but also provide an avenue for emerging artists to gain exposure to a targeted audience. By aligning themselves with
communities or influencers, playlist curators can foster a sense of belonging and create curated spaces that resonate with specific demographics.
If you are an avid music explorer and curator, who also follows influencers who specify particular interests, such as Yoga, fashion, wellness, gaming, TV series, and more, we recommend teaming up with them to curate music for them!
Embrace TikTok:
While playlists continue to hold a significant place in the music discovery landscape, the emergence of TikTok has posed new challenges and opportunities for independent playlist curators.
Rather than being in direct competition, many independent playlist curators have started embracing TikTok as a complementary platform. They curate playlists inspired by popular TikTok trends, helping bridge the gap between viral hits and a more curated listening experience. This integration between playlists and TikTok demonstrates the adaptability of independent playlist curators to evolving trends in music consumption.
We recommend using hashtags, link-in-bio, and call-to-actions to get the most out of both worlds!
Create complementary content to engage and grow your followers:
2023 is following up the trend that kicked off last year - music fans are in it for making an impact, and feeling they matter.
If you want to grow your presence as a music tastemaker, you can do that by generating content to support your playlists in less than 3 minutes with Spins.
Create music-themed pages to grow traffic to your playlists, get to know better your fans, add more emails to your newsletter, and increase your exposure with the viral loops they generate.
You can feature your Spins page anywhere - from link-in-bio, to newsletters, socials, Spotify playlists, and more.
If you want to try Spins, use this invite code SPINS_MYS20 :)
Conclusion:
The world of independent playlist curators continues to evolve, driven by the emergence of micro-genres, the integration of NFTs, collaborations with musicians, the focus on community-building, and the impact of platforms like TikTok. As music listeners seek more personalized experiences, independent playlist curators play a vital role in guiding and shaping musical journeys. By staying attuned to these latest trends, playlist curators can remain at the forefront of music discovery and provide an invaluable service to both artists and listeners alike.